The Tennessean

IF YOU GO

Aiming to help connect entrepreneurs and investors for matchmaking opportunities, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough and the Entrepreneur Center are hosting an event to allow startup companies to sit down with investors, both locally and from cities throughout the U.S.

But don’t call it a conference.

The Capital Unconference, planned Tuesday at the Entrepreneur Center, will not include panel discussions or pitches to large audiences, but will instead facilitate 30-minute one-on-one sessions between pre-vetted startups and investors who are matched based on their profiles.

“It’s a very targeted deal,” said event founder Jason Epstein, a business lawyer with a technology focus at Nelson Mullins in Nashville. “It’s about making Nashville a national destination for companies and investors in a unique format that is likely to breed investment.”

The event is the firm’s second — having launched a similar, smaller unconference in the Entrepreneur Center’s former home — and was prompted by investor interest outside of Nashville. These type of events are happening more frequently in recent years. In addition to the Unconference event and investor days taking place through the Entrepreneur Center and Jumpstart Foundry, Nashville has added Southland Summit, Google For Entrepreneurs and Google For Creators to its lineup in the past two years, each event drawing big-name executives and leading national startups.

Seventy companies and 30 investors are scheduled to attend the event. While it is open to companies seeking between $500,000 and more than $5 million in capital, it is primarily focused on companies with more than $1 million in capital that are seeking larger, additional rounds to take them to the next level. The idea is to address a gap in funding that exists for many startups that are beyond the $1 million milestone, but aren’t developed enough to access larger venture capital or private equity funds, Epstein said.

Startup companies in Nashville have voiced the challenge of finding capital in a city that does not have the developed startup ecosystems found in cities such as San Francisco or Austin, Texas. By bringing investors here and building relationships, the event founders seek to provide more opportunities for startups to build those connections.

“Those companies may not be right for investment in one year, but in two years or four years, they may be more investable,” Epstein said.

Through Nelson Mullin’s event in May, six companies have landed a combined $15 million through the event, Epstein said, declining to disclose those companies and investors.

PatientFocus, based in Nashville and founded in 2010 to help health care companies offer more flexible payment plans to patients, was among the companies meeting with investors. While their participation hasn’t led to additional capital, it has helped foster investor relations.

“It’s not necessarily raising money within a month of the event, but is building relationships with people who can help you grow your business overtime,” said Evan Austill, chief operating officer at PatientFocus. “By creating awareness, it’s helping everyone with great ideas find money they need to grow their company.”